​Player Collapses At Practice, Danny Berger Of Utah State Basketball

A Utah State basketball player remains in critical condition after he collapses and stops breathing at practice and is revived through CPR and a defibrillator.

Though still listed in critical condition, 22-year-old Danny Berger is making in improvements since his Tuesday collapse. Doctors say he is awake talking to his family and breathing tubes have been removed.

“He recognizes his family, his doctors and the instructions he is given,” Utah State basketball team doctor Trek Lyons said at a press conference in Logan. “It is a good sign and a sign of improving.”

“As of right now, things are looking good,” brother John Berger said in a statement, he read to reporters.

The reason for Berger’s sudden collapse on the practice court was still unknown to doctors. It was said that he did not have any pre-existing health or heart problems.

“As a well-conditioned athlete, he goes through a stress test every day,” Lyons said. “It just reminds us that some things are still unpredictable.”

Currently, Berger is being run through a battery of tests in the intensive care unit of the Intermountain Medical Center by a team of doctors that include, cardiologists, pulmonologists and trauma specialists.

According to Lyon’s Berger was in the middle of the teams Tuesday practice when he started to head for the sideline and suddenly collapsed into the arms of a teammate. Lyons said by the time he was on the floor he was not breathing.

Within a minute or two of him collapsing, Utah State assistant athletic trainer Mike Williams, used a defibrillator on Berger, who was in full cardiac arrest, he said. The shocks helped Berger regain a pulse, and he was transported to a local hospital were he was later flown by helicopter to a trauma center.

Lyons credits William’s for saving Berger’s life. ”He had a calm, clear mind the entire time. He handled it perfectly,” Lyons said. ”Danny’s condition is in large degree to a man keeping his mind under pressure.”